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BREAKING STIGMAS
ON MIND AND BODY

Feel safe. Feel supported
Never feel alone.



Body Talk is an online platform that breaks stigmas on Mental Health and redefines Body Image by spreading awareness through open conversations, shared experiences, education, resources, support, creativity and collaboration.


By choosing healthy over skinny, you are choosing self love over self- judgment. By doing so you are choosing yourself, you're mental and physical health, and your confidence over the world’s preconceived ideals and pressures. When you’re healthy, your skin glows, your hair is healthier, your mind is more positive, you think more clearly, and your self-esteem is much higher. Choose you, not society’s/media’s opinions on what’s beautiful. Healthy is what’s beautiful and wanted, always.


Sometimes self harm comes from numbness. Instead of thinking the person is crazy, getting angry or saying words that can cause more harm than comfort, the most important thing is to understand the reason behind it, to make the person feel understood (even if you don’t understand it yourself). That’s what empathy is and it should be applied even more in situations that seem extreme.





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EATING DISORDER



Eating disorders are a range of conditions expressed through abnormal or disturbed eating habits. These generally stem from an obsession with food, body weight or body shape and often result in serious health consequences. In some cases, eating disorders even result in death.

Although eating disorders can affect people of any gender at any life stage, they're most often reported in adolescents and young women. In fact, as much as 13% of youth may experience at least one eating disorder by the age of 20.



Symptoms of eating disorders include:


  • spending a lot of time worrying about your weight and body shape
  • avoiding socialising when you think food will be involved
  • eating very little food
  • deliberately making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat
  • exercising too much
  • having very strict habits or routines around food
  • changes in your mood
Some physical symptoms include:


  • feeling cold, tired or dizzy
  • problems with your digestion
  • your weight being very high or very low for someone of your age and height
  • not getting your period for women and girls




ANOREXIA NERVOSE


People who have anorexia try to keep their weight as low as possible by not eating enough food or exercising too much, or both. This can make them very ill because they start to starve. They often have a distorted image of their bodies, thinking they are fat even when they are underweight.

Men and women of any age can get anorexia, but it's most common in young women and typically starts in the mid-teens.


Symptoms of anorexia include:

  • missing meals, eating very little or avoid eating any foods you see as fattening
  • lying about what and when you've eaten, and how much you weigh
  • taking medicine to reduce your hunger (appetite suppressants), such as slimming or diet pills
  • exercising excessively, making yourself sick, or using medicine to help you poo (laxatives) or to make you pee (diuretics) to try to avoid putting on weight
  • an overwhelming fear of gaining weight
  • strict rituals around eating
  • seeing losing a lot of weight as a positive thing
  • believing you are fat when you are a healthy weight or underweight
  • not admitting your weight loss is serious


Some physical signs and symptoms are:

  • if you're under 18, your weight and height being lower than expected for your age
  • if you're an adult, having an unusually low body mass index (BMI)
  • your periods stopping (in women who have not reached menopause) or not starting (in younger women and girls)
  • bloating, constipation and abdominal pain
  • headaches or problems sleeping
  • feeling cold, dizzy or very tired
  • poor circulation in hands and feet
  • dry skin, hair loss from the scalp, or fine downy hair growing on the body
  • reduced sex drive



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BULIMIA NERVOSA


People who have bulimia go through periods where they eat a lot of food in a very short amount of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick, use laxatives (medication to help them poo) or do excessive exercise, or a combination of these, to try to stop themselves gaining weight.


Men and women of any age can get bulimia, but it's most common in young women and typically starts in the mid to late teens.


Symptoms of bulimia include:

  • eating very large amounts of food in a short time, often in an out-of-control way – this is called binge eating
  • making yourself vomit, using laxatives, or doing an extreme amount of exercise after a binge to avoid putting on weight – this is called purging
  • fear of putting on weight
  • being very critical about your weight and body shape
  • mood changes – for example, feeling very tense or anxious


These symptoms may not be easy to spot in someone else because bulimia can make people behave very secretively.


Other signs of bulimia include:

  • fear of putting on weight
  • being very critical about your weight and body shape
  • mood changes – feeling very tense or anxious, for example
  • thinking about food a lot
  • feeling guilty and ashamed, and behaving secretively
  • avoiding social activities that involve food
  • feeling like you have no control over your eating


Some physical signs include:

  • feeling tired
  • a sore throat from being sick
  • bloating or tummy pain
  • a puffy face
  • self-harming